U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110) completed a homeport swap with sister ship USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60).
USS William P. Lawrence arrived at its new homeport at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on November 14 while the Paul Hamilton left Hawaii earlier in the year and headed for its new homeport of San Diego.
“The Navy ‘ohana’ (family) in Hawaii welcomes USS William P. Lawrence Sailors and families to their new home and new homeport,” said Rear Adm. John Fuller , commander, Navy Region Hawaii and Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific. “We have a robust plan in place to formally welcome our shipmates and their loved ones, and show them the ‘who, what, when, where, why, and how’ about living here in the 50th state.”
Over the past year, William P. Lawrence has sailed as part of the Great Green Fleet, supported Oceania Maritime Security Initiative, operated in the South China Sea during a seven-month deployment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific, and participated in Rim of the Pacific exercise.
This homeport swap is part of the rebalance to the Indo-Asia-Pacific, under which the U.S. Navy is concentrating its most potent ships in the region. This move will allow Paul Hamilton to proceed to San Diego for a scheduled extended dry-docking selected restricted availability.
William P. Lawrence, commissioned in 2011, is a Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer equipped with the Phalanx close in weapon system (CIWS).
The destroyer’s namesake is for Vice Adm. William P. Lawrence. Lawrence served in the Vietnam War as commanding officer of Fighter Squadron 143. He earned the Silver Star for a strike against a heavily-defended target in North Vietnam. He was later captured after his aircraft crashed in June 1967 and was a prisoner of war until March 1973. He earned the Distinguished Service Medal for his leadership during his time captured with other POWs.